From left: Brian Meade, PE, Senior Project Manager, Planning Design and Construction; Leah Borenstein, RN, MPA, Director, Perioperative Services; and Evan L. Flatow, MD.
As the Mount Sinai Health System evolves to meet New Yorkers’ changing health care needs, Mount Sinai West is completing Phase One of a three-year plan that will vastly expand its surgical capabilities. The initiative, which began in November 2016, will enable an increase in the types and number of complex elective surgical procedures performed at the hospital, especially in the areas of Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, and Head and Neck Cancer.
The project is a key part of the transformation currently under way at the seven hospital campuses across the Health System—all efforts aimed at strengthening Mount Sinai’s ability to better serve patients.
“A large portion of Orthopedics, including hand, shoulder, and elbow surgery, along with some joint replacement and spine surgery, have already moved here from other Health System hospitals, laying the groundwork for making Mount Sinai West a center of excellence for Orthopedics,” says Evan L. Flatow, MD, President, Mount Sinai West. “Next year, we will be adding Head and Neck Cancer, as well as a movement disorders neurosurgical program, which will join the epilepsy and neuroendovascular programs here to make a Neuroscience center of excellence.”
Phase One includes a new 600-square-foot operating room and the expansion of another, the addition of three new post-anesthesia care (PACU) beds, and a completely renovated surgical reception and family waiting area, all scheduled to open in early August. The project also includes the renovation of the West 59th Street hospital entrance and lobby, and upgraded elevators to the surgical reception area.
The new reception area will streamline the surgical check-in process. It includes a bright and spacious waiting area with twice the seating capacity of the previous space, two laptop stations, two big-screen televisions, a quiet area, and two restrooms. Comfortable new seats come with individual electrical outlets for convenient phone charging. Nearby, a new consultation room enables surgeons to meet privately with a patient’s family.
“Our focus is to improve the overall patient experience,” says Leah Borenstein, RN, MPA, Director, Perioperative Services, Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. “This really is a show stopper,” she says of the new reception and family waiting area. According to Brian Meade, PE, Senior Project Manager, Planning, Design and Construction, Mount Sinai Health System, Phase Two is scheduled for completion next March, and will include additional operating rooms, a new 3.0 T MRI, and new staff lounges.
Phase Three will add 18 private prep and recovery rooms, and is expected to be ready in October 2018. Phase Four, scheduled for completion in June 2019, will include the addition of four operating rooms and the activation of the new MRI as an intraoperative MRI, which will enable precision neurosurgical imaging in real time during surgery.
Mr. Meade says their goal is to complete the renovation for December 2019, ultimately adding six operating rooms—bringing the total to 22—and doubling the number of PACU beds to 32. Surgical support facilities for staff, upgrades to engineering systems, and an enhanced and expanded endoscopy suite are also part of the overall plan.
“Starting with convenient valet parking and the reception and family waiting area, we are designing our expansion in a patient-centered way,” says Dr. Flatow, “trying to improve the experience for patients and families going through what can be a stressful time.”
Emily Rubin, left, co-editor of a new anthology of work from Mount Sinai’s Writing Workshops, with Alison Snow, PhD. Click the image to watch a video about the writing program
There was a standing-room-only crowd at the recent launching of a new book, The Write Treatment Anthology, at Mount Sinai Downtown-Union Square. But it was not just any literary crowd. These were cancer patients and survivors, along with family members, friends, and Mount Sinai Health System staff. After gentle prompting, some of those who were sitting gave up their chairs for those not feeling well enough to stand for very long.
“A sold-out crowd for a literary event,” marveled Emily Rubin, who leads Mount Sinai’s two Writing Workshops, and who was a co-editor of the anthology. The book, published on Amazon.com through grants and crowdfunding, includes essays, short stories, and poems that 23 cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers have written since the workshops formed in 2011. Seventeen excerpts from the book were read at the event held on Thursday, June 15.
“We are so excited about this accomplishment—a published book, filled with the stories of our cancer patients,” said Alison Snow, PhD, LCSW-R, and Assistant Director, Cancer Supportive Services at Mount Sinai Downtown Cancer Centers.
The workshops are held on Mondays at Mount Sinai West and on Wednesdays at Mount Sinai Downtown-Chelsea Center and follow a well-worn, comforting routine: Ms. Rubin brings prompts to spur the imagination, like quotes, cards, or photographs, then participants write for about a half-hour, aiming to create a short finished product.
Connie Perry: ‘‘We writers gather close around the table, buoyed along by our continuing bravery. Not because we have each had our cancer battles, but because we bravely face blank pages again and again.’’
“It’s all inspiration for us to write together,” Ms. Rubin said at the event. “And as we write, the room fills with sighs and groans and laughter, tears, and silences heavy with thought. We think and we write, we imagine and we create, and then we read what we’ve written. The stories and poems bring beauty and light to these dark places where we end up going.”
Since the workshops began, about 300 people have taken part. One group was started by Ms. Rubin after she completed treatments for breast cancer at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, and the other was formed by Susan Ribner, an author who was treated for ovarian cancer at Mount Sinai West. The two started the groups at about the same time entirely by chance, and in an only-in-New-York coincidence, they found that they had met years before—at an aikido dojo in Chelsea. They collaborated on workshops and book readings, and after Ms. Ribner went into hospice care, she asked Ms. Rubin to take over both groups. Ms. Ribner died in 2014, and her spirit was a vibrant presence at the book launch.
One of the book’s authors, former patient Isaac Read, shared his essay “Sue Ribner” at the event: “She was a gracious, very strong woman. Weeks before she died, I called her because I had not heard from the writing class in a while. She told me that she was not teaching the class anymore, but she did not tell me how bad she was. I shared with her a quote about writing that I heard on a TV show. The quote is, ‘Writing is an act of faith, not an act of grammar.’ ”
James C. Tsai, MD, MBA, President, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai; and Jodi S. Sassoon, MD, Director of Anatomic Pathology and Clinical Pathology, served lunch to operating room technician Pedro Vasquez.
Food, fun, and appreciation were on the menu Wednesday, June 14, at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai as senior management—wearing chef’s hats and festive fake moustaches—served lunch in the facility’s cafeteria to 300 employees to thank them for their dedication throughout the year. Participants were treated to summer barbecue favorites, such as hamburgers, watermelon, and lemonade, and invited to enter a raffle to win gift baskets. “We truly value the contributions and hard work demonstrated by all of our employees,” Christopher T. Spina, MS, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, said. “And this event gives us an opportunity to show our appreciation for what they do every single day.”
The Department of Neurosurgery’s softball players, led by Joshua B. Bederson, MD, Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery for the Mount Sinai Health System, far right, gathered in Central Park for the charity tournament.
Faculty, fellows, and residents from the Mount Sinai Health System’s Department of Neurosurgery recently participated in the 14th Annual Neurosurgery Charity Softball Tournament. The event, held Saturday, June 3, in Central Park, helps support the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and pediatric brain tumor research. More than 40 teams from academic medical centers in the United States and Canada turned out for the friendly competition. For those keeping score, the Mount Sinai team beat the Michigan Health System and the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, but lost to Columbia University Medical Center. Most Valuable Player awards went to Mount Sinai team members Robert J. Rothrock, MD, and Jeffrey Gilligan, MD, both neurosurgery residents; and Peter Taub, MD, Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics, and Neurosurgery, who hit home runs. The event was hosted by Columbia University’s Department of Neurological Surgery.
Local schoolchildren examined animal brains at the Annual Brain Awareness Fair.
“Today is about making science accessible, not scary or intimidating,” said Alyson Davis, LMSW, of the Fifth Annual Brain Awareness Fair. In early May, the event drew hundreds to the Guggenheim Pavilion. Among the attendees were 500 local elementary, middle, and high school students who received three hours of private access.
School children toured the inside of an inflatable model of the brain in the Guggenheim Pavilion.
More than 15 immersive tables provided the students with a fun, tactile learning environment where they viewed specimens of animal brains, used 3D virtual reality to simulate the experience of performing brain surgery, and controlled the movement of their peers using electroencephalogram sensors.
“This is our favorite event of the year,” said Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute. “I get choked up when I see children from our community showing keen interest in the brain and being part of the Mount Sinai family.”
Diversity leaders Gary C. Butts, MD, and Pamela Y. Abner, MPA
DiversityInc, the nation’s leading publication in advancing excellence in diversity management, has ranked the Mount Sinai Health System No. 1 in the United States in its 2017 “Top 12 Hospitals and Health Systems” list. Mount Sinai improved its national ranking from last year when it was No. 3. In 2016, Mount Sinai also was the publication’s highest-ranked health system for diversity initiatives in the New York City metropolitan area.
Among the best practices that led to Mount Sinai’s special honor this year were its employee resource group participation, manager participation in cross-cultural mentoring, use of an executive diversity leadership board to set goals tied to executive compensation, and a commitment to expanding the supplier diversity initiative. In its top hospitals and health systems rankings, DiversityInc used a 300-question self-assessment survey of multiple diversity criteria, including talent pipeline, talent development, leadership commitment, and supplier diversity.
Situated in one of the most diverse cities in the nation, Mount Sinai is dedicated to ensuring its staff represents the population it serves. An inclusive vision and robust diversity initiatives are spearheaded by Gary C. Butts, MD, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy and Community Affairs, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) includes Pamela Y. Abner, MPA, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer; Chief Program Officer Ann-Gel Palermo, Dr.PH, MPH, Associate Dean for Diversity in Biomedicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Barbara Warren, PsyD, Director for LGBT Programs; and Edward Poliandro, EdD, who supports training and education initiatives.
“The more diversity we achieve in our system of care, the better the climate for both patients and staff,” says Dr. Butts. ODI codified 14 areas to tackle in this pursuit, including focusing on patient-centric education and training of staff, engaging and advancing underrepresented groups by expanding the talent pipelines through hospital administrative residencies, and the recruiting, developing, and mentoring of faculty and staff.
“The challenge is how to translate our substantial workforce diversity into something tangible, palpable, and impactful,” Dr. Butts adds. “If we did not allow diverse teams to engage more effectively or if we did not allow for the diversity of our student body to impact learning in the medical school, then we would miss the mark.”
To create and foster an inclusive environment and support the development of a culturally competent workforce, ODI provides education and training to staff, faculty, and students on topics such as unconscious bias; racism and bias in medicine; best practices in LGBT-competent care; and enhancing the transgender patient experience and patient care. The Health System also fosters student-led advocacy groups to develop social consciousness. Members of the
ODI team regularly engage with employees—from department heads to front-line staff—to ensure they include a variety of perspectives.
“We have the focus, intention, and goodwill of people at Mount Sinai,” says Ms. Abner. This is supported by hospital presidents, deans, and other senior leadership who participate in and chair diversity councils. “Leadership has endorsed our work and that is essential.”
The ODI team continues to incorporate more inclusive initiatives into the Health System, including increased accessibility for disabled employees and a commitment to maintaining supplier diversity, particularly local businesses run by women and minorities.
“Organizations that are committed to diversity and inclusion have to work with suppliers who support those populations,” says Ms. Abner. Through the relationship, Mount Sinai will educate vendors on the particularities of working with larger corporations, providing a level of education that may further enhance the company’s future and potentially build community wealth.
“We are not perfect, but we are ahead of the field,” says Ms. Abner, who acknowledges that Mount Sinai still has areas for improvement. She would like to see more diverse representation among senior leadership and within board membership.
“We need to continue to do the good work, articulate that well, and maintain our vision,” says Dr. Butts. “There is more work to be done, without a doubt. We need to look at the gaps that need to be filled and close them. We are in a great position to do that.”
